Commander lkor Larkinson waited as the scattered chs of the Larkinson Army withdrew from their forward positions and arrived at the rallying point that he had set. Dozens of chs trickled in over the course of half an hour. He expected around a thousand chs to arrive by the ti he was ready to comnce his plan.
This was not a large amount of chs compared to all of the small craft that had been committed in this star system alone.
lkor along with many other ch pilots had beco more and more accustod to fighting battles involving tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of chs.
The native aliens fielded even more phasefighters so long as they were able to transport them all to the frontlines!
All of these battles tested lkor in ways he had never been challenged. He had to maintain a clear head, pay attention to the strategic disposition of both the defenders and the attackers, predict the next actions of the enemy forces and figure out what he and his Avatars could do to attain a better outco.
The battles were exhilarating and terrifying. Even quasi-first-class chs such as his customized and upgraded Larkinson Edition of the Fey Fianna turned into nothing more than slightly better cannon fodder!
There were many tis where he felt that he felt so utterly small and weak on the battlefield that his presence or absence ultimately wouldn't make a difference.
There were plenty of other Larkinsons that could do so much more to influence the course of a major battle.
There were the expert pilots and ace pilots who could defeat powerful enemy champions or wipe out hundreds of weaker units with their high-ranking chs alone! There were much more brilliant ch commanders who could inspire greater courage and duty among their n, or possessed excellent tactical acun that enabled them to defeat enemy forces that were thrice or quadruple the number of chs under their command!
There were also visionaries like Ves whose works and ideas changed red humanity for the better without needing to step foot on the battlefield!
lkor was none of those Larkinsons.
He was... pretty average, to say the least.
The only reasons why he was still held in high esteem was because he was a trueblood Larkinson and supported Ves since the beginning. The fact that his leadership also did not cause the Avatars of Myth to go downhill also helped a lot.
Even so, lkor still felt unfulfilled. He was being outshone by many others, and his efforts to break through had consistently failed.
Practicing an auxiliary qi cultivation thod had caused him to beco better and smarter, but it was not as if other ch pilots ignored systematic cultivation.
When everyone improved with the help of systematic cultivation, lkor ultimately ended up in the sa relative position as before.
He had been struggling for a long ti on what to do with his future. He had ultimately decided to give up on becoming an expert pilot and try his hand at becoming a qi cultivator instead, but just when he was about to switch from the Commanding Controller Auxiliary Qi Cultivation thod to a more serious qi cultivation thod that would permanently transform his spirit.
Doing this was a serious matter as the Red Collective had warned that once a human began to practice qi cultivation in earnest, he would no longer be eligible to beco an expert pilot anymore.
"Well, there is an exception for companion spirits, you are already practicing a thod of your own, right, Jonas?"
lkor's companion spirit briefly poked his head out and nodded.
The companion spirit that spawned from his companion spirit seed ended up as a fairly mundane-looking gray short-haired cat.
Jonas was still fairly young, but he had already begun to develop his power as a spotter and detector by practising the Perceptive Assistant Qi Cultivation thod of the Assistant Series.
The Cultivation thod Departnt of the Red Collective originally developed the Assistant Series for qi cultivators that sought to provide greater help in less direct ways.
Even though the Assistant Series lacked any direct combat enhancents, the extre specialization in specific kinds of utility made it easy to beco very powerful in a single capability over ti.
The different variations of qi cultivation thods of the Assistant Series ranged from turning the human brain into an organic supercomputer to operating multiple high-tech instrunts with great proficiency at the sa ti!
People eventually discovered that the Assistant Series also happened to be highly compatible with companion spirits.
Most of the people who gained companion spirits did not harbor any crazy ambitions to pursue two different main careers at once.
People like Ketis pursued two careers with relatively little overlap at the sa ti were the exception rather than the rule!
Many people who obtained companion spirits would rather have them complent their existing strengths. That way, they would be able to achieve much more success in their chosen careers.
lkor was still determined to be a ch pilot, and he would also like to retain a
leadership role.
Having Jonas practice the Perceptive Assistant Qi Cultivation thod seed like an excellent idea.
For now, Jonas was not able to detect the approach of massed alien phasefighters due to his shallow cultivation, but he would probably be able to extend his detection range by nurous kiloters once he had more ti to grow and cultivate.
In any case, ever since he saw how well Jonas was able to begin his practice in his qi cultivation thod, lkor ca close to pulling the trigger himself.
The only reason why he held off on trying to beco a double qi cultivator was because he had yet to make up his mind on which thod he wanted to practice.
The Larkinson Clan offered a few good ones, but the selection was rather limited. The premium offerings available in the Repository were not necessarily worse, and their catalog was much larger and more varied.
He had just begun to narrow his choices to 5 different qi cultivation thods when Ketis suddenly published her Manual of Reford Swordsmanship.
lkor had no interest in swordsmanship. He specialized in piloting rifleman chs, so why did he need to read a book on how to wield a sword?
It turned out that the new publication contained a lot of profound theories about the nature of willpower cultivators, of which ch pilots were included as well!
"Heaven, Earth, Man." The visored legion commander whispered. "Interesting. It has a ring of mysticism to it. Does it apply to everyone, or is it only valid for willpower cultivators?"
He was more inclined to believe in the forr. If a person wanted to beco stronger as
a qi cultivator, he could not do so by relying on 'heaven' alone. Many qi cultivation thods emphasize the importance of developing a specific mindset, constructing an elaborate artistic conception in one's head or becoming more disciplined in behavior.
These were all rules and instructions ant to raise the Man score of a qi cultivator. Those with talent probably possessed inherently high scores when ca to practicing certain cultivation thods, but lkor did not think he was blessed in that way. The Earth score beca a lot more important for that reason. Aside from talents that could make a huge amount of progress, others needed to rely on cultivation aids such as elixirs, pills and in a few cases specific kinds of artifacts.
Each of these resources were produced from planets, asteroids and such, so they all fell under the category of 'Earth' to keep everything simple and organized.
As the Avatar Commander, lkor should not be weak in this aspect. He used to pilot the Golden Beacon but had switched over to the much more powerful and much more suitable Fey Fianna.
However, just like many other ch pilots, having a good ch did not necessarily increase his chances to break through as a ch pilot.
Unlike before, lkor not possessed a more detailed understanding why he had
remained stuck as a standard ch pilot all of this ti.
According to theory espoused by Ketis, if his Earth score was more than sufficient, then
his Heaven and Man scores were too deficient.
The answer should be simple, right? He just needed to raise his Heaven and Man scores.
He had already been doing the forr by practising an auxiliary qi cultivation thod while Jonas practiced a more serious qi cultivation thod.
It was his Man score that was dragging him down. He did not think he could obtain a convenient elixir or artifact that would help him pierce the extraordinary threshold as a
ch pilot.
He had perford enough evaluations on himself to conclude that he was not expert.
pilot material.
He was also growing older, if not in body then in mind. Responsibility had a way of making him more thoughtful and less impulsive. Granted, he had always been rather reserved in the past, so his changes only reinforced his existing
tendencies.
Try as he might, he just couldn't replicate the stupidly confident or irrationally driven mindsets that characterized the expert pilots that he had t in person.
Each of them were defined by their overpoweringly strong personalities. It was as if they
were humans dialed up to eleven or even higher!
lkor could never imagine himself undergoing such a change. He might not even welco it if he had to beco a different person like Jannzi.
"Maybe I should stop thinking about a future that will never co to pass." He sighed.
At his age, lkor found it increasingly less realistic and rational to continue to pine for a breakthrough that would most likely never co.
Rather than waste any further years on chasing after an illusionary dream, he could do himself a much greater favor by pursuing the much steadier path to becoming a qi
cultivating ch pilot. Examples of that had already started to show up across human space.
They were particularly loved by older ch pilots who had already grown old and
weaker. Since they were no longer in peak condition, their breakthrough chances were
minimal.
They might as well turn to qi cultivation instead, which was much more systematic and transparent.
The ch pilots all appreciated that they not only received clear instructions on what
they should do to reach the next cultivation stage, but that they could also sense their progress in real-ti by sensing the growth and developnt of their qi cultivation! lkor was twice as young as the average age of ch pilots who went down the path of qi cultivation, but he was already thinking about starting ahead of ti. The Larkinson Clan constantly faced greater threats. The Avatars of Myth also deserved
to be led by a stronger and more capable leader.
"I am not going to spend the next 40 years flailing around while trying to test my
courage in stupid challenges or whatever."
The Manual of Reford Swordsmanship briefly revived his hopes of a better future, but
it was ultimately a mirage in his opinion.
lkor did not think he was destined to beco a powerful expert pilot, let alone an ace
pilot or god pilot!
All of this willpower business frustrated him.
never gave him a clear indication of how
much progress he made or what he needed to do to trigger a breakthrough. Perhaps that was the point. The uncertainty surrounding willpower cultivation made it so that only the most confident, disciplined, strong-willed and resilient of warriors would be rewarded for their superhuman efforts!
lkor most definitely did not think any of those words could be attributed to himself.
This was why he reluctantly set aside any further thoughts about pursuing willpower cultivation and reaffird his decision to beco a qi cultivator. "The only question is what cultivation thod I should practice." This was an important choice, because if he wanted to get started on a few of them, he would have to perform a 'ritual' on the battlefield!
User Comments
0 comments from readers